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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

I know I could try to write a novel, but I never get past the brainstorming stage. When I look back at my plot ideas, they sound silly, so I ignore them.

And I am not intuitive AT ALL in cooking. I've wasted so many ingredients by failing to put a lid on the pot (the instructions didn't say to) or not knowing the proper amount of a "sprig" of rosemary. I'd try all sorts of inventive cooking methods if I knew they wouldn't fail.

Sure, I could take lessons. And I have, in other things. But it's fun to suppose, isn't it? What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Over the past few months I've been sharing pages I made for the fabric and lace book. These are the final pages, made for my friend Liz's book. Her theme is medieval gardens, and my pages played around with the idea of love.

The outside page shows a couple entering through a garden gate, with a quote above it that says: "Back on its golden hinge, the gate of Memory swings, and my heart goes into the garden and walks with the olden things."

The inside left page is a garden scene that opens to display a poem about a young man playing

the lute to his love. It was written in the 1500s and I thought it was perfect for the image I was planning to use. I layered lots of fabrics and metallic lace, and I accented elements on the garden doors with a Viva pearl pen in white. I love the 3D effect I get with them.

The inside pages show a young man playing thelute, with a girl seated next to him. I decorated this page with golden lace and embroidered ribbon. To accentuate the fabric pages, I used a white signo pen on the white flowers and used a bronze Viva pearl pen to give dimension to the oranges in the tree.

Here's a look inside the doors. I love poetry, and this was a perfect way to share that. I dyed the flowers (which started out white) using a lavender Tombow brush marker.

And the back cover of this signature is a gardener working his land. Someone had to get the garden looking good before all that love could happen!